#vampire flug

It’s been almost a week and Flug has scarcely left the room. He hasn’t spoken much, has slept even less. He sits in the corner farthest from Demencia’s bed and fiddles with whatever small mechanical object he had at the time. One time he had a box of parts, and he had more or less mass produced a set of inner mechanisms for...something. He doesn’t remember. Black Hat had confiscated the box and forbid him from doing so again.

There’s a sigh somewhere in the direction of the bed. His hands stop moving for a moment. 5.0.5 grunts as he rolls over in his sleep. Flug pulls the remote apart.

He’s lost track of the hours. Everything blends together and all he can feel is the crushing guilt. His fear of what happened, what will happen, what could have happened. His face is dry but it’s only because he had run out of tears the first day. There are a lot things he’s feeling but mostly, he’s just numb to it.

Black Hat hasn’t asked him anything, hasn’t yelled at him for being useless, hasn’t demanded that he suck it up and go back to work. Flug thought he would have. The demon wasn’t known for such...kindness? It’s strange, and it made Flug nervous.

He doesn’t understand Black Hat, but then again he never really had.

Flug let out a sigh, hands falling still, and glanced up out the window. It wasn’t a spectacular view by any means, being mostly the rooftops of neighboring houses. In the distance, he could faintly see the shape of a jetliner. He idly wondered what model it was.

The door opened, noise barely there, but enough for him to hear. He doesn’t turn around, watching the plane track slowly across the sky, even as Black Hat stepped over to check on Demencia’s progress.

“Flug.”

A soft clatter of the remote falling to the floor, the scientist jolting in his seat, hands flying up against his chest. Black Hat stared down at him, expression unreadable, leaning against the wall with arms folded. Neither of them moved for a moment, gaze locked on the others.

Then, a trembling breath, “Sir…”

Flug looked down at his feet, at the little device that had come apart when it hit the ground. He didn’t pick it up. A dull warmth curled in his chest, shame and guilt trying to eat away at the numbness. He flinched when his boss starts speaking again, despite the uncharacteristic low tone.

“Are you ready to explain yourself now?”

His throat seemed to close up, making it hard to breath. He swallowed heavily before responding in barely more than a whisper.

“Wh-where...where do you want me to s-start…?”

It looked for a moment like his boss wanted to say some snappy comeback, but paused instead. When he spoke, it was slowly. “Your previous employer…”

Flug swallowed heavily. Black Hat’s head tilted, his one eye locked on the other’s goggles.

“The file they had stated you were human…” It had a picture as well. A younger Flug standing next to another scientist, hair pulled into a messy ponytail, dark brown eyes focused on the camera. He had seemed confident then, almost cocky even. “When did that change?”

The scientist curled in on himself, just a little. “Ah… A few years after I s-started, I guess? I don’t…”

One hand gripped at a sleeve, fingers curling into the fabric. “I don’t want to remember it… please…”

But he would have to, wouldn’t he? He was starting to remember now, and of course Black Hat wouldn’t really care how he felt about it. The demon just wanted to know the facts of it, no emotions involved.

“Flug.”

He looked up at his name, spoken softer than he had ever heard it. Black Hat’s face was still impassive, brows furrowed, but he didn’t seem angry. Or at least, he wasn’t glaring. And he spoke again in that same, soft tone.

“Who was it?”

A tiny tremor started in his hands. His fingers curled tighter into his sleeve.

“...Nocturn.”

It was barely a whisper, but he knew Black Hat had heard. Some part of him was angry at the inherent terror that the name of his last boss came with. It was distant through the cold that seemed to creep up from his core. Flug had to force his next words out.

“I wasn’t...th-the only o-one though-I w-wasn’t alone. The others…s-some of th-them were...they d-didn’t…” He tried to swallow and found he couldn’t. There was the sound of someone letting out a long breath, before Black Hat spoke again.

“That’s enough.”

Flug felt his body relax a miniscule amount, his gaze returning to Black Hat’s. There was a peculiar curiosity there, just a brief glimpse before the demon turned to look at Demencia’s prone form.

“Your bite...what does it do?”

The sudden shift in topic was jarring, Flug’s thoughts left fuzzy, scrambled, and confused, “Wh-what?”

There was a growling undertone in Black Hat’s voice now, “Your bite. It...burned when you bit me. Why?”

“I-” He stared at the demon, still disoriented. It took a few moments for the idea to click, though that didn’t make him any less confused, “It’s-it’s paralytic. It’s meant to in-incapacitate our...prey, n-not harm them. It f-filters from the b-blood eventually, like-like alcohol...”

The eldritch hummed, almost as if in realization. But again, the next question was a different topic entirely, “How have you been sneaking out?”

Flug squirmed in his seat, making Black Hat glance at him and raise an eyebrow. He unclenched his hand from his sleeve, moving instead to fiddle with his fingers. Now that the cold fear was passing, he was starting to feel restless.

“I uh. I haven’t been. N-not really.”

His boss’s eyebrow rose further.

“I mean! At least I t-try not to! I’ve used our l-live subjects b-but...some of them, b-because of what I’m t-testing them with...it, ah. It makes their blood, uh, un...unpalatable...” The scientist clasped his hands together, pausing for a moment.

“But when we don’t...I...I mean, I made the s-security system, so it’s easy to, uh, to shut down th-the cameras...And usually, everyone is, everyone is already asleep w-when I leave, and I’m o-only out for an hour, maybe an hour and uh, and a half…”

He trailed off, staring vaguely at Black Hat’s shoulder, unable to look at his boss’s face. The demon let out a low hum, shifting slightly against the wall.

A different noise drew both of their attentions to the bed. Flug felt guilt surge up again as Demencia turned her head, eyelids fluttering.

They watched as she slowly regained consciousness, her brows furrowed. A few fingers twitched, as if she was trying to lift her arm. After a couple minutes, the hybrid was able to focus on Black Hat.

Demencia opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came. Frowning, she swallowed a few times and tried again. The rasp in her throat made Flug drop his eyes to the floor.

“...didja get th’plate of th’car thah hit me?”

Black Hat snorted, “Of course something that ridiculous would be the first thing you say.”

“...got you t’laugh...”

“Hardly.”

His shoulders were trembling. He couldn’t look at her.

“Whahappen...?”

“Flug is a vampire.” The scientist choked at the blunt statement, inhaling too quickly and sending himself into a coughing fit. Black Hat ignored him and continued.

“He decided to be even more of an idiot than usual and ended up attacking you, as well as 5.0.5 and myself.”

Flug clutched at his chest, doubling over in his chair.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, Flug.”

He wheezed as the coughing fit subsided. There was silence then, apart from his heavy breathing.

“...Oh. S’cool I guess…”

That made him jerk up, meeting Demencia’s drowsy but seemingly content face. She was smiling at him.

He didn’t understand. “I almost kill you and ‘it’s cool I guess’?!”

“Didja mean to…?”

Flug froze, “...what?”

The hybrid rolled her eyes at him, “Didja mean...t’attack me?”

“I-Of course not! I-”

“Then s’cool.”

There was a soft flump as the scientist dropped back into the chair, not even aware he had stood up in the first place, stunned. His mind was blank shock. That was it? She had almost died because of him, and she didn’t seem to care? Distantly, he heard Black Hat say something before the sound of footsteps leaving the room reached him.

Demencia was still smiling at him. She seemed a little more aware now, even if she couldn’t move that much. Flug looked uncomprehendingly down at his hands, trying to wrap his head around what she said. A moment later, he realized she was calling his name.

“Flug. Hey, Flugbug. Earth to doctor nerd, you still alive in there?”

He looked up and blinked, focusing on her. She had a different sort of smile, one he didn’t quite process.

“Does this mean I can see what you look like now? I couldn’t get a proper look before.”

There was something in her gaze that said she was just teasing him, even if she did want to know. But…

Flug watched her eyes widen, slowly reaching to pull off his headgear. The bag crinkled softly in his fingers, and he clenched his eyes shut before removing it all together. After a moment, he dared to open them again.

Her mouth was open slightly, forming a little ‘o’. The scientist shifted under her searching gaze, knowing what he looked like. He was hyper aware of each detail: inhuman yellow eyes, pointed ears, the dark scars that littered his right cheek and nose. The longer she stared without moving, the more self-conscious Flug became.

He was just about to move to put the bag back on when, “Oh damn, you’re cute.”

An actual squeak escaped his throat. Demencia laughed as he turned pink and started spluttering. He jammed the bag over his head, prompting further teasing, “Aaawww, Flug, are you being shy~?”

“S-shut up-!”

Flug buried his face in his hands as she continued laughing. It was soft and hoarse, but still genuine and playful. It was all Demencia. He smiled, feeling as if everything was going to be okay for once.

“So like...does this mean I’m gonna turn into a vampire too?”

“Ah-no. It-it doesn’t work like that…”

“Damn. I was looking forward to turning into a bat.”

“That’s not...that’s just a myth-”

Black Hat grimaced, his steps barely making sound as he started to search for his irritating employees. What had happened? Had they been invaded by Heroes? Broken into by a rival Villain? Each thought seemed just annoying enough to be plausible. Ugh, they were all so useless. They had probably been tied up somewhere, as bait or something equally ridiculous, while their captors waited to surprise him. (As if.)

 Well, it didn’t seem to be a rival, since there would have been some sort of fanfare; a message with all that if he ever wanted to see his precious minions again nonsense. And he also wasn’t being immediately assaulted and contained by the Heroes organization, which would have also been a whole affair. So likely, it was some small group of those who foolishly thought they’d be able to handle him all on their own. 

Ridiculous.

The demon stopped caring so much about maintaining secrecy, now stalking around his house with a heavy scowl on his face. There was the temptation to call out, but it was suppressed. He’d probably startle them and they would end up breaking something. And with his luck (looking at those who worked for him), it’d be something hard or expensive to replace.

What a bother-

Black Hat sidestepped the blow that had been aiming for his head from the hulking shadow that had appeared behind him; the strike crashed into the wall instead. He heard the assailant snarl, and he turned with a smirk on his face. 

“Did you really think-” 

Huge paws swiped at him again. He stepped back, his expression turning into a sneer.

“5.0.5, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” 

The normally peaceful creature roared, barely seen claws coming down where Black Hat’s head had been seconds before. And then the experiment was slammed into a wall, held there by chords of shadow, sinewy flesh and sharp teeth, radiating out from Black Hat’s arm. The bear trashed for a few moments more before seeming to realize who he was attacking. Black Hat grinned as 5.0.5 ceased struggling and started whimpering instead, before noticing something odd.

There was a long gash stretching across the bear’s face, staining the blue fur into a muddy purple color. His paws were the same, even more so than the open wound. Black Hat bared his teeth in displeasure. So then, someone had broken in and attacked his underlings.

“What happened?”

A rather redundant question, since 5.0.5 couldn’t speak, but the creature was intelligent enough to understand and respond. The failed experiment whined again and looked towards a room Black Hat had passed, pointing with one bloodied paw.

The villainous boss dropped 5.0.5 rather unceremoniously, and stalked towards the room. For the first time, he noted the darkened trail of blood that lead down the hall, but put it out of his mind for the moment.. He wasn’t sure what he expected, stepping through the doorway (the door had been broken off it’s hinges, laying cracked off to one side), but the sight of a long tail of what had once been bright green hair leading up to an unmoving body was very low on the list. 

He refused to acknowledge the thrill of alarm that shot through his core, squatting down next to Demencia’s body. Anger rose up instead, at the idea that someone had the gall to attack his underlings and apparently (as much as he barely tolerated her presence) to kill Demencia. 

Black Hat grabbed her shoulder, intent to find out just what had been done to her, and blinked in surprise. She was still warm. Well, warm enough to not be a corpse; still much cooler than her normal temperature. 

More gently than he would admit, he moved her to lay on her back, and felt his lip curl. The entire left side of her body was covered in blood. Her skin was too pale and covered in sweat. The only movement was the rapid rise and fall of her chest; she was entirely too still for his liking, especially considering her normal manic disposition. 

There was a  whine from behind him, 5.0.5 slinking into the room. Black Hat realized now that the bear had been protecting Demencia, possibly in the event that whoever or whatever had attacked them would come back. Which meant that they could possibly (are probably) still in the house somewhere. And if Demencia and 5.0.5 were here, then…

He stood and turned to the bear.

“Where is Flug?”

5.0.5 just stared at the demon for a moment, looking entirely too tired and scared for Black Hat’s liking. (His thoughts aggressively interjecting that it was because the bear was afraid of something that wasn’t him.) And then a whimper, 5.0.5 hesitantly gesturing towards the wall. 

Towards the lab. 

He supposes he shouldn’t have expected any different. He growled out a, “Stay here,” before stalking from the room and down the hall. A glance down showed again the splatter of blood on the floor. It trailed from the frame down the direction of the lab. 

That shouldn’t have been as ominous as it felt. 

Black Hat felt a snarl rising in his throat. He did not like this. Not. One. Bit. 

He spotted a handprint on the lab door. Human, so either Flug or whoever had dared break in. The small bit of pride that perhaps his underlings had managed to fight back at least somewhat was ignored. The lab itself was deserted and dark, with only the blinking of lights on various creations and experiments, the occasional soft beep or click. Nothing out of order (if you could call things being randomly strewn about order). 

The blood led right to the door in the far back. 

Flug’s room. 

His grimace grew. It seemed like whoever it was had gotten to Demencia and 5.0.5. first before going after Flug. Coward that he was, the doctor had probably been attempting to hide, to save himself from the assailant(s). But still, it begged the question of where they were. It was quite possible that the attackers had already left, even with 5.0.5. still on the alert. But it was equally as likely that they were waiting somewhere else in the house for him. Or maybe attempting to raid the store room that contained weapons waiting to be sold. 

A brief internal debate decided that he cared more about finding out what had happened to Flug than checking if the intruder(s) were still here. They could always be dealt with later. 

There was blood on the doorframe, like someone had been leaning against it. Black Hat pushed the door open and scanned the room. It was small, cramped even, with little more space than a small bed and desk. It wasn’t Flug’s real room, since that was upstairs. But it was the room the doctor used when working on new projects he could not be away from for long. Or if he needed to crash and would not be able to make it to his bedroom. 

Black Hat’s gaze passed over the room once before snapping back to the corner across from the door. He had thought maybe it was Flug’s lab coat draped over some random machine. Really, it was the soft trembling that gave it away.

The human was kneeling in the corner, back to the door, head bent so low Black Hat couldn’t even see the rim of the silly paper bag. He did, however, note that Flug had both, ungloved, hands clenched into the lab coat on both sides. And Flug’s fingers seemed to be crusted with blood. 

“Dr. Flug.” 

The trembling stopped immediately, Flug freezing in place. He heard the human inhale sharply. Whether it was from the idea the attacker(s) had returned or he had recognized his boss’s voice didn’t matter. 

“Do you mind telling me wh-” 

There was hair in his face and the sound of tearing cloth. And then sudden, unexpected pain burst from his shoulder. With a yell he ripped his assailant off, throwing them into the empty lab, hearing a crash as they collided with something. His shoulder burned, his glove came away wet when he touched the wound. This was...unexpected. He glanced back to see how Flug had reacted to the sudden commotion. 

The room was empty. 

Black Hat stared in complete bafflement. Where had…? The crashing of metal brought his attention back to the being that had attacked. They were jerkily rising from the remains of what might have been the start of some weather machine. His gaze narrowed, focusing in on the other. Dark as the lab was, he could see them rising to their feet, head hung with a mop of brown hair. Their whole front was soaked in blood, mostly from what appeared to be claw marks cutting across their chest, staining the shirt and lab coat they wore. 

A low hiss was his only warning before the other was coming at him again, moving almost too quick for him to keep up. An arm shot up on instinct to try and stop the blow; a moment later, that same pain in his shoulder jolted up from his wrist. Black Hat growled deep in his chest, the noise like thunder, and swung the other around. They were sent flying again, hitting the wall with a loud thunk before crashing to the floor. 

The sleeve of his suit and shirt had been torn off, and there were several deep gouges on his forearm. Black Hat’s lip curled in anger before he looked to where the other was getting up again, spitting out pieces of black and red fabric. 

It was only then that what they were wearing registered. The demon’s expression turned to one of pure bewilderment. 

“Flug?” 

The other’s head snapped up, brown hair flipping to reveal piercing gold set against black. There was dark green dripping from a set of teeth too sharp to ever pass as human. Dry blood covered Flug’s chin, his face twisted into an animalistic snarl. The scientist let out another hiss before lunged at the demon again. 

Black Hat stepped back, lashing out to catch Flug like he had before with 5.0.5. But only one of his arms actually shifted, hitting Flug in the leg and stopping him midair. The bitten arm didn’t change, instead feeling like a fire was spreading, burning from the inside out. It confused Black Hat, since nothing should have been able to prevent his power, especially with his own body. That same sharp pain brought his attention back to Flug, who had bitten into the amalgam of teeth and flesh holding him down, attempting to get free. 

It was peculiar. Somehow, Flug’s bite was interfering with his ability to shapeshift. 

With a grunt, Black Hat severed the connection between the affected flesh and his main body. The limb fell to the floor and lost its form, melting into a formless mass of meaty goop. Another limb started to form, tendrils twisting outward, mouths and eyes appearing and disappearing until it settled until shape, his suit repaired. 

Flug was still trying to get free, constantly biting and clawing against his bindings. Bindings that suddenly tightened, winding around the struggling body until he could barely breathe. Black Hat began dragging Flug where he stood, shedding the rest of the burning bits along the way. He looked down once the other was at his feet, scowling in confusion. Flug was still moving, albeit weakly and without much success, his face becoming more and more pained. 

The demon squatted down, a deep frown set on his face. He spoke, voice gruff but quiet. “Dr. Flug. Flug, stop this. Come back.” 

At first it didn’t seem like anything was happening, the scientist still struggling before slowly ceasing movement. Black Hat watched him pant, vision unfocused, before his yellow pupils shifted from reptilian slits to a more human round. The trembling he had seen before returned, and something in his chest ached. He pretended it didn’t. 

“Flug.” 

The scientist’s attention snapped to his boss, expression dazed and confused but suddenly terrified. 

“J...jefecito…” 

Flug’s voice was so weak Black Hat barely caught it. The demon hummed, frown deepening. “Is this what you’ve been hiding all this time?” 

The flinch he received should have been satisfying. Instead it just left him feeling...troubled. That feeling deepened when Flug’s breath hitched, tears gathering in his eyes. 

“I-I didn’t...I’m sorry, sir, I-I’m...I-” 

“If I let go, are you going to attack me?” 

His employee blinked, startled, “What…?” 

He barely resisted growling, hating to repeat himself, “Are you in control of yourself now?” 

Flug’s brows furrowed, looking down and realizing that he was bound still. He watched the gnashing of several mouths for a moment before nodding, “I-I think so...” 

Black Hat retracted his arm, feeling the scientist shiver at the movement, face pinching into something like nausea. After a moment, Flug pushed himself into a sitting position, gripping one arm with a shaking hand. Black Hat noted the talons in place of fingernails, and realized where that gash across 5.0.5’s face came from.

After a long stretch of silence, the demon huffed, “Well? Are you going to tell me what the hell happened or are you just going to pathetically sit there?”

The apparently-not-human jolted, as if being suddenly brought out of his thoughts, “I...Y-yes…” He swallowed, unsure where to start. “Well, I mean I. I’m not-I…”

A low growl, “Stop stuttering and just tell me, Flug.” 

“Right…” Flug took a deep breath, unable to meet his boss’s gaze, “I was planning on, on telling you. About...m-me. I swear I was, there just wasn’t...I just couldn’t find a good time-” His fingers clenched on his sleeve. “I was...it happened before I met you-a few years maybe? Just-just after college and I. I’ve been trying so hard to control it-the, the...hunger. I’ve been sneaking out, disabling the cameras, after everyone is sleeping-”

Now that he was talking, Flug couldn’t stop. Everything came tumbling from him in a shaky wave. “I don’t need, it’s only a c-couple of times a month but since we-since you wanted that new machine, and it’s been taking so long. I hadn’t been out for a while before anyway but then you wouldn’t leave because it needed to be done but it just-it kept getting worse and I couldn’t get out, b-but then you had that meeting and I kepting w-working until it was too much and then-” 

He was nearly hyperventilating now, “-I tried to leave, but Demencia-! Oh god, I c-couldn’t-she just kept asking and getting in the way and I couldn’t-! I needed to eat and she was just-just there-” Flug’s fingers were starting to dig into his arm. “I tried so hard, but-and she tried to fight back but, but I...And 5.0.5. managed to stop me but I think, I think I may have killed her.” 

The scientist looked up, tears streaming down his face, cutting a path through the layers of blood. “B-black Hat, if...did you find her? Did...did I kill her...?” 

And Black Hat, who had been silent the entire time trying to process what was being said, couldn’t deny the awful feeling of sympathy for his underling. “No, you didn’t. But just barely.” Flug flinched, and the demon stood up with a scoff. (It was very short lived burst of sympathy.) 

The scientist didn’t move, staring up at Black Hat. “A-are…are you going to kill me…?”

The demon jerked his gaze back down, “What? Where the hell did you get that idea?” 

Flug dropped his head, “Because I...I’m-” 

“If you seriously think I’m going to kill you for what you are, or what happened, you’re more idiotic than I thought.” Black Hat snorted, turning on his heel. “Get yourself cleaned up, idiot. And then come upstairs. You’re in charge of taking care of Demencia.” 

“W-what!? But I-” 

The demon turned to glare at Flug, “You what? You think you’re going to attack her again?”

Flug, who had shakily gotten to his feet, could only nod. Black Hat snorted, “Oh please. You couldn’t even kill her properly the first time. And it’s not like this is going to happen again.”

The other stared, confused. Black Hat growled and stepped forward to gently smack the back of Flug’s head, “I’m not to let you get that bad again, nitwit. From now on, you’re going to get proper, regular meals. And if something happens, you tell me, got it?”

Without waiting for a response, the demon turned again, walking out of the lab. He heard a faint, “Yes...thank you, jefecito…” before turning down the hall, intent on collecting Demencia and 5.0.5 and seeing to their wounds. He wiped the smile that had formed on his face before reaching the room. There would be plenty of time to talk about Flug’s situation later. 

A toothy grin pulled across her face as she made for the Lab, hopping up onto the wall as she got close. The sounds of Flug working was unmistakable and created the perfect cover for her to slip by the partially open door, skittering up to the ceiling. Which was strange actually. Flug usually had the door shut and locked to keep her out. (Not that it stopped her at all.)

Mismatched eyes took in the scientist’s upside down form, hunched over one of the many tables. She scuttled over until he was right before her, still oblivious to her presence. He seemed totally engrossed in soldering pieces onto the small circuit board he had. He wouldn’t be expecting her at all.

Perfect.

Demencia waited until he was just about to put another piece of metal in place before dropping, flipping to land on her feet with cat-like grace. She hit the metal floor with a loud crash, “FLUG!”

He actually squealed, flinching so badly the welding torch went flying out of his hand, getting caught by the end of its hose and clattering to the floor. He went scrambling after it, fumbling to turn off the flame.

“D-Demencia-! You can’t-you have to stop doing that!”

It sounded like he was trying to be forceful, but the way his voice trembled from the surprise ruined it. She shrugged and stuck her tongue out at him. “I don’t see why I should. I mean, it still gets you everytime!”

Flug made a strangled sound of frustration, jerkily placing the torch back on the table, inspecting the circuit to see if anything had broken. “I don’t want you to-You could get hurt. I’ve t-told you, I’m not playing with t-toys. Some of what I make is dangerous, even-even for you.”

“And what, it’s not for you?”

“T-That’s not the point!”

The reptilian hybrid blew a raspberry at him.

“Soooo, what are you making anyway?”

He swatted at her hand when she reached to pick up the board, sliding it out of her reach. “Nothing for you t-to mess with. I don’t need you breaking anything else!”

The girl tilted her head, pouting, “When I have I broken anything?” The glare she got had her amending, “I mean, recently.”

Flug’s stare intensified, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. Demencia grinned.

After a moment, his shoulders slumped, defeated, and he turned away. “I just don’t need-I don’t want anything else to go wrong right now.”

The tone of his voice made her pause. He sounded anxious, though that was nothing unusual. But instead of a general tired, there was an undertone of sheer exhaustion. Demencia pursed her lips, giving the scientist a once-over. All of his clothes, even the paper bag was deeply wrinkled, like he hadn’t changed in a week. He might have possibly even slept in them several times.

She knew he was prone to being a workaholic, but he at least kept up with some semblance of taking care of himself. Come to think of it, had she seen him out of the lab in the past few days? She didn’t think so.

Her lips pursed before she did a dramatic turn on her toes, sighing in exasperation. “Ugh, fiiiiine. I’ll go find 5.0.5 instead. He’s more fun than you anyway.”

The noise of relief she got was more than enough for her smile to soften. Demencia skipped back to the lab door, kicking it open and moving to push it shut.

She gave one last glance inside...and stopped.

The hybrid had assumed Flug would have gone straight back to work. Instead he had silently sunk to his knees, clutching at his arms, head resting on the edge of the table. She opened her mouth to call out, but his voice caught her first, barely there even to her advanced hearing.

“...please...not now not now...too close...j-just finish-just finish this part and...ah...it hurts…” He let out a soft whimper, before clumsily getting to his feet again, whole body seeming to tremble with the effort. He reached for the welding torch with one shaking hand and started working again.

Demencia frowned.

That was...odd. Even as dedicated as he was, Flug generally didn’t push his limits. (Black Hat didn’t either, for that matter. He could be callous and demanding, but at least he understood that production was higher when Flug wasn’t entirely strung out.)

But whatever. If he was going to push himself like that, it was his problem. She turned and walked away.

The next few hours were dreadfully uneventful. She had found and bothered 5.0.5 several times, doing such things that included, but was not limited to: getting soapsuds from the dishes everywhere, tilting pictures in an entire hallway and laughing as the bear frantically tried to reach the highest ones, startling him no less than 5 times, and actually having a nice time sitting down and drawing with him. (She was getting better! Her people sort of resembled people now.)

She had also hooked up her guitar to the biggest speakers they had and played until things on the upper floors had started rattling. (She stopped when she heard crashing and 5.0.5’s wails of despair.)

But now, Demencia was bored again. And since it had been hours, it was high-time she messed with Flug again. It was entirely possible he was still working from before, but he could have just as easily have gone to get a snack or fallen asleep. (She grinned widely at that last thought, starting to formulate all the ways she could mess with him.)

The hybrid didn’t get the chance however, turning a corner and catching the scientist’s back as he strode down the hall. Weird, he normally wasn’t in this part of the house, unless he was sent out on an errand or something. And, unless she had suddenly gone deaf, he really wasn’t making much noise.

Demencia wrinkled her nose before scaling up the wall and following.

Flug stiffened and turned, glancing over his shoulder but upon not seeing anything, hurried on. Turning into another hall, he stopped and leaned on a wall, letting out a soft and pained breath. He didn’t seem to be paying attention to his surroundings.

Perfect.

She dropped to the floor, like she had earlier, though with much less of a crash this time. “FLUG!”

He didn’t scream this time. He actually didn’t do much of anything except freeze in place. She grinned and skipped over, “Where you going, Flugbug~? You trying to sneak out?”

The doctor seemed to jump then. She gasped, hands coming up to her face in glee. “You are! You totally are! Oooh, you naughty boy!!”

“Demen...cia…”

She almost didn’t catch his voice. It was so quiet and strained, like he was in pain and trying to hide it. Her smile slipped a little, “Whaaaat?”

“ ...go away… ”

A snort, “As if! You’re trying to sneak out! You have somewhere to be, huh?” She stepped in front of him as he pushed off the wall, blocking his way. “Oooh, are you going to a secret meeting? Does Black Hat know~?”

Flug suddenly moved, and Demencia found herself stumbling to the side a few steps. She blinked before realizing that the scientist had just shoved her. “Hey! What was that for!?”

He didn’t answer, instead trying to lurch past with a rather unsteady gait. The hybrid grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around to face her, “What’s up with you? You were acting weird earlier and now you’re trying to leave the house?”

The low growl she received didn’t register at first, and had her turning to see when 5.0.5 had showed up. In the next moment, she was smacking into the wall, her cheek stinging, blood on her tongue. Dazedly, the hybrid lifted a hand to her cheek, mismatched eyes lifting to the other, taking in his still outstretched arm.

“...Did you…just...?”

Flug recoiled, clutching his hand to his chest, “I-I! I didn’t-”

She just stared at him, unable to comprehend that the scientist had just punched her. Hard enough to send her into a wall even.

Demencia bared her teeth, launching herself at the other. Her fingers caught his shoulders again, and he hit the wall behind him. “What was that for!?” she cried out, indignant. “All I asked was what you were doing!”

He didn’t answer, and she could feel his body shiver.

The next few moments were a blur. There was a snarl, her vision suddenly obscured by a gloved hand as she was thrown to the floor. Pain jolted up her spine from the awkward way she landed, a pained gasp escaping her. There was the muffled crinkling of paper and a hand slamming down on her chest, making the breath catch in her throat.

Demencia vision swam, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes as she tried to look up at the form above her. The only things she could make out was a mess of brown and the flash of white teeth.

Pain bloomed from the side of her neck.

She screamed. Fingers scrabbled at the arm holding her down, her nails trying to find purchase in white fabric. One leg found a body and she kicked with all of her might, the form suddenly disappearing. There was a loud crash, like someone flinging open a door a little too hard.

The hybrid clutched at her throbbing neck, struggling into a sitting position before pulling her hand away. It was covered in blood. Footsteps caused her to look up with a small whimper. A small part of her mind was trying to deny that the figure above her was Flug, the fading voice insisting that the scientist couldn’t do this, that this was some imposter in his clothes.

A single eye stared down at her, opened wide, pupil slitted and burning yellow. The rest of his face was shadowed, but there was blood on his shirt.

The throbbing in her neck was started to dull, and she found that it was getting harder to breathe, to move. Her heart seemed to beat in her mouth, terror and adrenaline making her pulse race.

Flug reached down and hauled her up by her arm, his grip like iron. Pain bloomed again and Demencia struggled weakly, limbs feeling like deadweight. It felt like time had slowed down. All she could feel was hot breath on her skin, blood dripping down her chest. She couldn’t think, couldn’t move-

She was flying again, hitting the ground and feeling something, somewhere in her body crack. Sounds of animal snarling and things being slammed around reached her as if from far away.

Her eyes opened, vision blurred but just able to make out a huge, furred shape. A pained screech. A roar.

A bloodied blue paw suddenly obscuring her view. More snarling from somewhere above. Flug’s voice, distant and terrified.

“Dem...cia…? Oh god. I...I didn’t mean to-”

Red sneakers appearing momentarily only to stumble back at another snarl. The blurred image of a man’s face, wide gold eyes finding her own, anguished.

“I’m sorry-!”

Fading footsteps.

Soft fur on her cheek.

A low whine.